Phoenicians - Chapter 2

Phoenicians Chapter 2 Debates continue on the people who lived in this region in antiquity, it would not be fair or correct to establish two separate types of people, the Canaanites and the Phoenicians, although it is said in many sources that from the Bronze Age of the Canaanites, into the Iron Age the Phoenicians marched. To my mind they are one and the same, and carry the sins of their forebears forward in time. My reference to this is the punishment that was carried on against them by the Hebrews, which in itself creates a serious question of their civilization and their actions or atrocities attributed to them, to justify their condemnation by the God of the Hebrews, you think? To understand the link between these two cultures, I again made an effort to determine the actual birth of this mighty nation --- which in most cases conflicted with the surrounding region. In my research I found that the name of one of the oldest deities, of which we have multiple accounts, is “Set” (which is the Phoenician name) or “Seth” (which is the Hebrew version) --- traces of this God are found in “all” oriental countries, and in most primitive religions, where he (or she) appears as the supreme God.

It is

written that “Seth” represents or signifies, “one appointed or put in the place of the murdered Abel.” According to the story of creation as set forth in the “Jehovistic” account, on the night that God had finished his work, and immediately after he had commanded Adam to “be fruitful”, he gave to Adam a staff, which is noted as being passed on to “Enoch” and all the patriarchs ---- but it also states that this staff was given to “Seth”, and that it was a branch of the “Tree of Life”. It appears (after further research) that there were two “distinct” sects (or religions) that were practiced, as the handing down of the branch first to Adam (or man) by “Aleim”, and its subsequent transfer to “Seth” (god of nature) or the “Destroyer or Regenerator”, seems to point to a victory of sorts for the “adherents” of a purer religion. Some write, “It is well known to the reader that the descendants of Cain are distinguished in the Scripture by the name of the “sons of man” or Adam, than those of Seth by the name of the “sons of God”.

[Gen vi., 2(85)]

Whereas “Julius Africanus” says, “that all the righteous men and patriarchs down to the Savoir himself have sprung from ‘Seth’ and have been denominated as the ‘sons of God’ in contradistinction to the ‘sons of man’.” In the modern Scriptures, what we read today, indicates the transfer of the creative agency (energy) from Aleim to Adam, and that the abstract “principle” or of a “Trinity” composed of the power of Nature has lost its power, this due the reproductive energy of man, whereas Adam (or man) had become the creator. Through time and the comprehensive study of Genesis it has become “probable” that the names, Adam, Cain, Abel and Seth originally stood for the races of men, and that in time certain religious doctrines were associated with them. In Genesis you read about the killing of Abel, where he was the tiller of the ground, by Cain the keeper of the sheep --- this narrative indicates a quarrel which ended in the death of the Abel. After his death, or after one of these “principles” or “sects” had been subdued, the older religion was “revived”, and Seth, as the Aleim, (or) as the creative power was again appointed or again worshipped. With Abel out of the picture, it would appear that “Seth 1” was appointed to represent the 3rd person of the Trinity – the Destroyer or Regenerator, which previously embodied all the powers of the Creator or Preserver. This fact or theory has been observed by the ancient philosopher’s who believed “matter” to be eternal, and that death (or) destruction was necessary to renew life or regeneration --- as it is stated, creation was but the continuous change in the form of matter. The doctrines of the “Sethians”, at the beginning of Christianity, as noted by “Hippolytus2” who said, “their system is made of tenets from natural philosophers.” In this manner they embrace a belief in the Eternal Logos (Darkness, Mist and Tempest), the trinity. Since that time these elements have been identified with the Evil Principle (or) the Devil. He went on to observe they (the Eternal Logos) were finally set forth as the Trinity, regarding cold, darkness and water (or) darkness, mist, and tempest. Going on he writes, “These the Sethian says are the “three” principles of our system, or that the “three” were born in paradise, Adam, Eve and the Serpent, or when the Sethian speaks of three persons, Cain, Abel, Seth and again three others,

1 2

A Hebrew legend depicts Seth as the architect/builder of the Pyramids in Egypt http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/hippolytus.html (Hippolytus-Book V, ch 15)

Shem, Ham, Japheth, or when he mentions the “three” patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob --- always in the Trinity. Through time and not thoroughly understood why, the ones who followed the older faith succeeded in reinstating their Deity whereas the powers of Nature had come to be represented by “Typhon” Seth --- he/she was the God of Death and of Life, of Destruction and Regeneration. The heat of the desert and the chill of winter were Seth, as were also the powers of spring. Various writers of antiquity refer to the “Typhon Seth” as a feminine deity, in some cases it has been noted that “she” was the early God of the Jews (in other words) they formerly worshipped a female Deity, Jehovah shared a throne with Seth? Written in the “Old Testament” are certain allegories that even today are not fully understood, but the belief that Cain, Abel and Seth are represented as the selftriplicated Deity are shown as still being believed after the “idea” that man as a creator had been established, (or) when his power to reproduce was (and is) the highest concept of a creative force --- this is evident or consistent with what is known of the “Kabblah3” of the Jews. It is written that this ancient set of doctrines, which in most cases is misunderstood were “patched” together as a basis for the later developments of the Jewish religious experience. It is noted (Old Testament) that 600 years after Adam appears, Noah steps into the record as another self-triplicated Saviour or “preserver” of man, with his ark or “seed” vessel, coupled (although thinly veiled) with a reference to the female element. Later we read that Abraham becomes the “Great Father or Saviour”, and later still “Moses”. By this time it becomes evident that the creative force in Nature was lost (as pointed out in the Old Testament) and that man or the worship of the “male” power is predominant, in direction opposition to that of the “Mother”, (or) female power.

By the time of Moses, this made up the religion of the masses,

whereas Jehovah came to be regarded as entirely male and as a spirit, and in most cases the “female” principle (matter) or the woman was finally to become identified with the “Devil”. Point: How many “male” witches have you read about, compared to the number of “female” witches, and how is the witch portrayed even today? The belief or doctrine that the “spirit” is evolved only through “matter”, or that “matter” must be raised to a certain “state” before the “spirit” can manifest itself, 3

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kabbalah

was no longer understood --- only the shell of this doctrine (myths and symbols of Nature) remained, and these were taken literally with the result that man’s religion finally evolved to what was once his “lower” position – man and man alone. When the time arrived that “man” had gained his ascendancy over “woman”, he too proclaimed himself the “sole” Creator of their joint offspring (noted even in mythology) when men are tied to their offspring, and in some cases the women are not even mentioned as being part of the process, or in other instances it is stated that women are allowed to couple with anyone they chose, so it is not important if they are mentioned as mothers. As man claims his superiority he moves from his earthly status back into the realm of the “child of heaven” – so-to-speak! But, he is not able to completely remove his “association” with earth, as again referenced in mythology or other religious writing where it says, “sons of God(s)”, were united to the “daughters of man.” Jahvah (Jehovah) the “God of Hosts”, who was revengeful, weak, jealous, and cruel, was worshipped in place of “Aleim” the great “dual” force throughout Nature. Now, the spiritual essence of the male resided “somewhere” in the heavens and created from a distance, while the earth (female) furnished “only” the body of material substance – matter. In this it is found the workings of the doctrines of the ancients (after the true meaning was lost) were changed so as to conform to the enforced humiliation and degradation of women. Seth was for ages worshipped in Egypt, and as “she” comprehended the power of Nature, or the creative energy of the sun and earth, “little” is heard or noticed of any other God. Somewhere in time Seth is worshipped more in “her” capacity as a Destroyer than a Regenerator and from this we understand the “origin” and “character” of the Devil --- at times understanding too much, we loose the original concept that at one time she was once a very respectable personage and a powerful Divinity, a Divinity that was worshipped by a people whose superior intelligence never raises a question. Before the downfall of Seth, the masses understood that she could destroy but only in order to recreate (reproduce).

Once this principle drifted aside and was

forgotten but only by a certain few, the evil being arose as evidenced in some nations, where in the Celtic Iberno he/she is labeled, “Baal-Zebub”, “Baal Lord”, and “Zab Death” (Lord of Death) --- but also he/she is referred to as “Aleim”,

interestingly enough, the same God of the Israelites (“Elohim”), as he was one of the Trinity. The round-about direction leans toward the name “Aleim” as the feminine gender, whereas the Goddess Ashtaroth (or) Astarte was at times referred to as “Aleim”, as is the Goddess of the Germans Eoster, in a sense the “plural” feminine is distinctly found to be “Aleim the Creator”., Aleim the Preserver and Aleim the Destroyer, and as it is noted in writings, not by inference but literally. I was not aware that in their history the Hebrews worshipped Astarte and Baal, they together representing the “indivisible God”, it is after that they chose to worship the male principle found today --- they picked one male independent deity as their only important agency in the creative processes, discarding Astarte as she could not be worshipped (in a manner) without her counterpart Baal, and when he along with Astarte was eliminated from their practices “he” stood for something very close to the Devil. I also found it interesting that in Hebrew, Baal is of the masculine form, while in Greek translations, both in the Old Testament and the New Testaments he is “Feminine.” I was equally amazed to learn that along with Jehovah being originally female, that “Netpe” the Holy Spirit of the Egyptian Tree of Life was also feminine, and that her hieroglyphic name was “Abyss of Heaven”. Now for a common reference, it is said that “Osiris” was the son of Netpe (or) Mary, the Celestial Virgin Mother, whereas he is the only God of the Egyptians born on earth and he lived among men. Notice the “mythology” and how it is tied to the Birth of Christ, even down to the name of the women who was present at his birth! It is also mentioned that “Osiris” was born on Mount Sinai, called by the Egyptians “Nysa”, hence they also gave him the name “Dionysos”. So here we have it, the circle is almost complete when it comes to the cycle of the gods, the female principle is cast aside as “Osiris” takes center stage as the 1 st offspring of the Egyptian Celestial Virgin to mankind, in that he was the new sun of “righteousness” who was to renew the world, or redeem mankind from sin --- this is Egyptian records, not Hebrew or Christian writings. However, as observed, Seth the Destroyer had been deposed, but the “idea” is so deeply ingrained in human consciousness he/she had become the female creator, moving from Creator Destroyer/Regeneration to just the Destroyer (Devil), and that Isis, the Queen of Heaven, a lower conception of Muth (or) of universal

womanhood, whereas she soon assumed a position near Seth beside Osiris --- it is noted that the Egyptians had a total of eight great gods, with one of them beside the three mentioned, Horus. Some say that originally “Osiris” really signifies the “Eye of Isis”, and that according to Plutarch, Isis and Muth are identical --- but from existing evidence today Muth is the representation of “Divine Womanhood”, or the female principle as it “was” regarded at an earlier stage of human growth. At that earlier time, “Muth” is not only the parent of the sun, or the force which produces the sun, but she is also “wisdom”, the 1 st emanation from the Deity, and at the same time she comprehends all the possibilities of Nature, in the other words she represents the “Law of Nature”. Whereas “Isis” seems to represent the Deity at a time when the higher truths, known to a more ancient people, were beginning to lose their hold upon mankind. Matter is eternal, and the destruction of vegetable life through the onset of cold was one of the necessary processes of regeneration, or the renewal of life, all of this evidently thinking must have been lost when “Seth” was dethroned in Egypt, where both Seth and Osiris were adored. That is until a change in the 14 th century BCE, where Seth who had occupied an important position in the line of Deities is wiped from the annals of Egypt, it is said under the influence of foreigners. Interesting enough “Sethi” (or) “Sethos”, who ruled Egypt from 1318 BC to 1304 BC (19th Dynasty) was named eventually after Seth (his full birth name is SethiMery-N-Ptah (translation: he who belongs to the god Seth and is beloved of the god Ptah), when he became king, he was also given the name Horus (Mn-Maa-Ra), he was the father of Rameses II. During his short 14-year rule he engaged in four consecutive military expeditions in which he restored Egyptian control over Palestine, Lebanon and Syria.

His reign represented the “Augustan” age of

Egyptian splendor. During the 20th Dynasty “Seth” is portrayed as the principle of evil (with which is associated with sin), consequently all effigies of this great “Goddess” were destroyed and all her names and inscriptions which could be reached were erased. What little remained was sufficient to give present day researchers their time reference to her life as a main character (god) in Egyptian history. Her character became a god called “Baal-Seth” and the God of the Gentiles and is explained, “By his being the cause of evil”. She was the producer of evil, and came to be represented in connection with a serpent as the cause of all earthly or

material things.

She is Destruction (but not Regeneration), “she” is in fact

“matter”. Her presence represented only Darkness and the absence of the sun and its heat; she had become the Devil and the cause of evil in the world.

This

transformation, from good to evil even included some of her titles of greatness being transferred to other male gods…talk about a put down. There is no doubt in any person who is a legitimate student of any religion that this decay in her influence has been a direct result of the male theologian’s cause, it is he who caused the further stimulation of the lower nature of man and its absurdity increasing to such a value to where in Christianity it finally reached its peak. Consider this before we leave this subject: When throughout history the masses were exposed to the female figure embracing a child, as if her own self was flowing into that child, and you could feel the love and affection being exchanged, now we are exposed to the result of our ancient teachers (so-to-speak) and their development of the female figure being associated with a serpent where she is the cause of evil in the world. Granted the history of the God “Seth”, who as we have learned represented the processes of Nature (Destruction and Regeneration) had a significant influence on this change --- but to the extent where the female has had to struggle since the downfall of Seth?